Posts Tagged economy

For years now, market participants have been arguing on whether or not “the” market top has been seen. So far, those who had suggested “a” market top yes, but not “the” market top have won the argument and prevailed. That being said, “this time”, both economically and market wise, it appears likely that we are in the later stages of a growth and bull cycle.

This conclusion may be easier to reach compared to the timing of a correction that could follow it. I am watching multiple “big money” sources, and all I see is a wide spread agreement on a tiring up trend, but hugely different projected time lines of a reversal.

Well then, what do we do now?

The Sun is Gone

Since 2008 global financial crisis, central bank balance sheets have grown from 3-5 trillion dollars to 15-20 trillion, China included. This 12-15 trillion created out of thin air did pull the global economy out of a deep hole and some but, has also created a dependency on easy money.

In short, FED driven expansion days are over. We all need to tattoo this on our chests backwards so we can read it in the mirror as a reminder every morning…and drop our habits developed in the last 9 years relying on it. Party bowl is gone and it’s time to sober up.

The direct effect of easy money policies has been stretched valuations in most asset classes. You can see this in your stock portfolios, real estate and speculative investments.

The good news is, that the global economy is still growing, valuations came down a bit from highs due to the drop in Feb-March of this year and forward earnings are closer to historical averages. Plus, just because the monetary easing has stopped and tightening has been resumed, it doesn’t mean liquidity has dried up. There is still plenty of cash hovering around globally.

You might ask: How much longer can the economies grow, and what if forward earnings disappoint?

The answers are: Probably not for much longer, and a correction would only be natural.

But I Have a Light

Yes, the FED sun is gone, but there is still plenty of light. The global growth is in tact and a recession isn’t an evident threat in the short term. Pro-growth policies are gaining traction, interest rates are still low, consumer and business confidence are high. On the cons side, populist rhetoric and policies, trade wars and anti-immigrant sentiment raise political risks, which can override the positives rapidly.

Just when the volatility has risen, inflation is looming, currency fluctuations are hurting trade, oil price is up and FED is in a tightening mode, the last thing markets need is irresponsible and short sighted political outbursts.

Had I just focused on newspaper headlines, I would say liquidate all your holdings and start planting tomatoes cause a third world war is looming. Luckily, there are plenty of reliable indicators suggesting that things are not that bad.

Here is a critical question in that regard: which single data point has the highest probability of predicting a recession in the US? Like any other question in finance, you’ll get many different answers to this but I agree with Ray Dalio, the manager of the largest hedge fun in the world, Bridgewater. He argues that the debt service ratio is the most important single data point as we live in a debt driven consumer economy. The end of a growth cycle usually comes with a debt service ratio high enough to hurt consumption. In other words, once the interest payment on the loan starts hurting new purchases, that’s when the party ends. Business cycles and equity markets are driven by this phenomenon. Without further ado, let me share with you that current debt service ratio in the US is at all-time lows, consumer balance sheets are healthy and household net-worth is at all-time highs.

What’s the Game Plan?

It’s a military rule, that strategic mistakes can not be remedied by tactical moves. Meaning, if you have your longer-term objectives, plans and action items lined up ineffectively, short term shifts can not bring ultimate success. So, first lesson from this is to make sure that you, or your financial advisor, wealth manager, financial planner etc…understand your long-term goals and your portfolios are adjusted accordingly.

The key thing here is to focus on asset classes more carefully then securities within in it, because 70% of a portfolio’s returns come from asset allocation decisions.

Once your asset allocation (stock, bonds, cash, alternatives) fits your long term strategic goals, then in the next 12-18 months, each time you see a high in the stock market, consider using that as an opportunity to lower your risk exposure from stocks to bonds, from international to domestic equity, from cyclicals to non-cyclicals.

As far as the timing goes, it is close to impossible to know when the bear will attack, but it’s probably fair to say that sometime within the next year or 2020. We may see a seasonal summer weakness ahead, higher volatility approaching the mid term elections, and a recovery during the seasonal Santa Claus rally.

But looking at the correction in 2015, let’s remember that the recovery at year end was reversed during the following January in 2016. This time around, that reversal to the downside has the potential to has a longer duration. To be fair though, the worst year in a 4-year presidential cycle is the current second year and the best year is the third, which will be next year in 2019, so there is still some things to be hopeful about.

The Key Factor

I was working at a bank during the Nasdaq bubble and at a money management firm during the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. In both cases what I have observed is, that from trough to peak, a buy and hold equity portfolio recovered its losses 5 and 4 years respectively (based on S&P 500 returns). For a risk adjusted, diversified and rebalanced portfolio, that time span was halved.

More importantly, those who got out at the wrong time, missed the fast run up following the drop. So, in other words, your stocks, bonds, cash and alternatives asset allocation, shouldn’t force you to sell at the worst possible time.

In fact, those are the times, in hindsight, appear to be the best times to start buying. The key is to be able to stay invested for the long term.

Summary

A peak in the economy and equity markets might be near. Timing the reversal of the uptrend is extremely difficult, if not impossible. So in the next year or so, you might want to consider lowering your risk levels during up swings to a level that will not force you to sell during the correction

Thanks for reading my commentary and as always, you can reach me at bbakan@shieldwm.com for questions and comments.

Disclosure

The strategies discussed are strictly for illustrative and educational purposes and should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. There is no guarantee that any strategies discussed will be effective. The information provided is not intended to be a complete analysis of every material fact respecting any strategy. The examples presented do not take into consideration commissions, tax implications, or other transactions costs, which may significantly affect the economic consequences of a given strategy. The information provided is not intended to be a tax advice. Investors should be urged to consult their tax professional or financial advisers for more information regarding their specific tax situations.

“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” – Soren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855, Philosopher

One piece of the profit/loss puzzle of investments that is so easy to see in hindsight, is that market pull backs, or corrections present investment opportunities. The bigger the drop, the better the opportunity. Therefore, in theory, a successful investor would be happy to see market lows, but that’s not how the story goes for a variety of reasons. The hard part is how to keep your cool and implement this wisdom in the midst of crisis, fear and while losing the market value of your invested funds.

Has the market bottomed? Is it time to buy? If you act too soon to buy, you may find yourself catching a falling knife. If too late, you’ll risk missing the profit train and kick yourself, thinking “I knew I should have bought it then.”, only to repeat this pattern again. Plus, what if this is the beginning of the next bear cycle? How do you know?

“Don’t fight the trend” and “be wary of extremes” both offer sound advice, but how do you reconcile these seemingly conflicting strategies?

Bring it Home

After a steep uptrend till Jan 26th, within two weeks major stock indexes lost over 10%, stepping in correction territory by Feb 8th. From there, prices bounced back up, gaining more than half of their losses by March 9th, only to visit the same low point as of this newsletter is written, at the end of March.

First, you have to use every opportunity to learn and evaluate your actions of the past. It is not too late to go back and see what you’ve missed. In fact, it’s mandatory for future success. If you can’t make sense of what has happened in hindsight, how can you live it forward?

You could have lowered stock exposure, re-balanced to your target weights, limited exposure to higher risk (beta) investments, and potentially raised some cash when the market was significantly overvalued and way above trend lines (some charting and technical analysis come in handy here). Probably towards the end of last year or the beginning of this year was the sweet spot. Yes, this is in hind sight but it does have some forward-looking remedies embedded.

If you believe this is the beginning of the next bear cycle, it’s never too late to start selling. (I am in the temporary and healthy pull back camp, which I will talk about next).

Second, you have to decide for your investments, whether or not the uptrend is still intact. What you’ll do next shall differ significantly from an investor who is convinced that a bear trend has emerged.

Even though political risks have risen and the volatility has come back, the global economy is in its strongest phase since 2008, and central banks are still accommodating. There is very little to no inflation for the most part, and employment numbers are strong (at least in developed economies), so recent moves are probably healthy and needed pullbacks. In fact, the down trend may have to get worse before it gets better. It is true that economies and markets can and do act differently sometimes, but not for too long.

Recent pullbacks have happened so fast in either direction, the volatility didn’t leave enough time for investors to shake up their complacency. The counter intuitive aspect of markets is that excessive enthusiasm is a bearish sign, and the opposite is also true. This is where and how you can aim to reconcile the question we’ve raised above, of how to be friendly with the trend but wary of extremes. Balance, is the key to all…

Just as too much voracity brings over-bought conditions, extreme doubt usually brings over-sold. Now, comes the hard part: for this reason, you almost want to see things get bad enough to get greedy again, and so far, I don’t see it. By the time you read this letter, capitulation may have occurred, but as of now, even though shaken, investors are not fearful, yet.

Last two points, 1 – Bull markets don’t die of old age and can resist recessions. Two of the last long term (secular) bull markets were between 1949-1966 and 1982-2000, 17 and 18 years respectively. Our current bull cycle is now 10 years old. 2 – The stock market is a leading economic indictor and usually signals economic recessions. Currently, a recession is a low probability event, and so by reverse engineering, a bear stock market.

In short, we may see a bit more volatility and down pressure before the next uptrend resumes, but when viewed as a technical pullback within the later stages of a bull market, recent action is/was probably a needed shake up.

Update on 4/2/18: After today’s (Monday) deep drop, the S&P 500 index has broken it’s 200 day moving average. If you needed a bearish sign, this should be on your list. My overall claim is intact, but with a tighter leash.

Thanks for reading my commentary and as always, you can reach me at bbakan@shieldwm.com for questions and comments.

Disclosure

The strategies discussed are strictly for illustrative and educational purposes and should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. There is no guarantee that any strategies discussed will be effective. The information provided is not intended to be a complete analysis of every material fact respecting any strategy. The examples presented do not take into consideration commissions, tax implications, or other transactions costs, which may significantly affect the economic consequences of a given strategy. The information provided is not intended to be a tax advice. Investors should be urged to consult their tax professional or financial advisers for more information regarding their specific tax situations.

“Whatever has the nature of arising, has the nature of ceasing.” – The Buddha

First thing first: I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and loved ones, and wish you a great Holiday Season, Christmas, News Year….under whatever name, shape or form you enjoy celebrating. My usual attitude I have adopted from a longtime friend is: “Is there something to celebrate? What are we waiting for?”

If you have read my previous newsletter, you might recall the above quotation and might be wondering if I have forgotten something. No, I haven’t. When I sat down to produce this quarter’s letter, I realized that I couldn’t have found a better quote, so I kept it.

As we’re approaching a new year, following a period of strong performance, many of you are probably nervous or wondering if a deep correction is due. Common questions are: Is this time to sell? Is there more room for growth? Should I invest now or wait for a downturn?

For those looking for quick answers: not yet; probably yes; and what about dollar cost averaging?

It all depends on your goals, time horizon and risk appetite. To demystify my answer, let’s dive in.

Cry Wolf

The current market regime we are in might be best described as the “most hated bull market in history.” For years, many participants have been calling for a correction and yet here we are, with solid returns.

I can not tell you how many client meetings I have had since 2011, making a bullish case, settling a client’s nerves, who had just read a report suggesting that huge losses were ahead.

There is actual research showing that some republican leaning investors had missed out on the “Obama rally”. It looks like now it is the democratic and liberal leaning investors’ turn to sit on the sidelines and watch the market that they so “hate”, to run up.

Looking at valuations and extreme optimism, is this “the” time to go out and save the shepherd from the wolves? If we do so, will we look like fools, again? There is a third way.

Don’t Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater

There is plenty of research that shows that the majority of portfolio returns come from asset allocation decisions. In other words, whether or not you will be invested in stocks, bonds, alternatives or stay in cash, is the most important decision. The effect of security selection, is miniscule compared to this very fundamental decision.

That being said, like most things, it is not black and white. You should make buy all, or sell all decisions. Better said, fine tune your asset allocation, to fit the current investment regime.

We are not bound to decide whether to fully get out of the market, or blindly stay in it. Instead, we need to keep our eyes on current market drivers, pay close attention to our time horizon and investment goals, and make adjustments accordingly.

Current Market Drivers

I am fortunate to serve many clients who are smarter and better educated than myself. One of them once told me “I don’t get what you’re doing, it seems so complex.” Coming from a man with a PhD in computer science, I was humbled, but to tell you the truth, it isn’t all that complex, it all boils down to:

Markets go up because there are more buyers than sellers.

Economies grow because more money is spent this year than last.

So, the two most important components are: 1 – How much money is out there? 2 – What is the investor/consumer sentiment? In short, it’s all about the FED and psychology.

How about valuations? Research shows that valuations are better indicators for long term (5-10 year) returns, but have a terrible record for shorter term (1-3 year).

The FED, crowd psychology, the economy and politics are undoubtedly interrelated but the end-result on investments has to be separately and carefully analyzed.

We still have a friendly FED, an overly optimistic crowd, a strengthening economy and a market friendly tax bill on its way.

Not too shabby, however the key word here is “overly”. In spite of Keynes’ famous quote “Markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent.” overly optimistic sentiment usually gets punished shortly after.

So…2018?

If you think I am giving mixed messages, that’s because I am. On one hand, I know that when the FED is friendly, the crowd is optimistic, the economy is strong and politicians are market friendly, fighting against this picture is foolish.

On the other hand, looking at historically high valuations, very little cash sitting on the sidelines, and extreme investor optimism, this might be the time to give the shepherd who cried wolf, the benefit of the doubt.

Action Items

How to reconcile these two sentiments?

Clarify the purpose of your investment. If you have a long-term goal, short term fluctuations shouldn’t scare you away from investing, but if you may need these funds within a year, this might not be the best time to get in.

Brace yourself for volatility. 2018 probably has one or two 5-10% pull back(s) built in to it. So, consider how to lower stock exposure, raise cash, or prepare yourself to ride the roller coaster, and have a 10% drop in US stocks as one of your what if scenarios.

Make sure you’re diversified. Usually, what went up the most, comes down the fastest. In the current case, it is the tech stocks. Make sure your tech stock exposure is in line with your risk appetite.

Have some international exposure. While the US FED is raising rates, European and Japanese central banks are still in their easing mode, most likely till the end of 2018. These countries, along with Emerging Markets may offer better value.

If you’re overly concentrated in any particular security, look for strategies such as put options.

Don’t be afraid of raising cash.

Watch for earnings because the market is priced for perfection and a negative surprise could be the black swan in the lake.

In Short

2018 will likely end up being a positive year, but returns may be muted and may come with volatility. So adjust your strategy accordingly.

Thanks for reading my commentary and as always, you can reach me at bbakan@shieldwm.com for questions and comments.

Disclosure

The strategies discussed are strictly for illustrative and educational purposes and should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. There is no guarantee that any strategies discussed will be effective. The information provided is not intended to be a complete analysis of every material fact respecting any strategy. The examples presented do not take into consideration commissions, tax implications, or other transactions costs, which may significantly affect the economic consequences of a given strategy.

The information provided is not intended to be a tax advice. Investors should be urged to consult their tax professional or financial advisers for more information regarding their specific tax situations.

Many observers are surprised with the current levels of US Stock Indices. There is so much talk about stretched valuations, Trump Trade being over, the potential damage of rising interest rates, trade/currency wars, political uncertainty, rising inflation and last but not the least, the aging economic growth cycle, that given all this, stock prices seem unjustified.

Looking at this wall of worry, one might conclude that “the winter is coming” and it’s time to run to the hills away from the White Walkers, short sellers and bearish bets.

In the past, I have seen how Republican leaning investors, commentators and strategists have allowed their political views to cloud their judgement, and how this led to misguided conclusions, most of which, have been proven wrong.

Unlike the popular rhetoric, the stock market rallied during Obama years, the dollar got stronger, inflation has been tamed, unemployment dropped like a rock, the economy grew and the US has become the safe house in a shady neighborhood.

The thorns of this rosy picture have been stagnant incomes, and stubbornly elevated public debt.

Learning from this experience, investors need to set aside their political views and think with facts in hand, not allowing their preconceived notions to get in the way.

I will address these concerns, and conclude that the stock market still has room to grow, pullbacks are likely and they should be used as buying opportunities.

Concern 1: Stretched Valuations

No matter how you slice and dice it, stocks are expensive. Questions to follow:

1 – How expensive?

2 – Can they go higher from here?

They are extremely expensive when you just look at absolute, traditional, isolated price to earnings ratios. If this is your only gauge, the answer to the second question is a short “no”, and they can’t get go much higher from here.

But when you look at relative factors, especially when compared to other investment vehicles like bonds, real estate, commodities and currencies, stocks still seem to provide growth potential. Roughly a third of US domestic stocks’ dividend payout rate is higher than the yield on 10 Year US Treasury.

In other words, when compared to especially low bond interest rates, stocks are only moderately expensive and the answer to the second question in hand is a “yes”, they can still go higher.

Also, from a purely investment strategy point of view, all we really care about is the asset price action and when we dive in to it, we get good and bad news.

The bad news is that high valuation is a pretty reliable indicator of investment returns in the following 10 years. The good news is that the same cannot be said about the following 3 years. So, if history is any guide, one can conclude that the investment strategy could be to ride the wave while it lasts, especially in the next 3 years but moot your expectations for the next 10 year returns.

Concern 2: Aging Economic Expansion and Bull Market

We are in the eighth year of a stock bull market and economic growth. On average, economic expansions last about 5-7 years and the longest has been 10 years (1992-2002). The stock market not only hasn’t seen a bear market since 2008, it also hasn’t seen a 10% correction for 287 market days as of 4/1/17. So justifiably, some argue we may be approaching a rest stop with a horrible vista point.

I will counter this argument and hope to offer some consolation with 3 supplemental sets of facts.

1 – First let’s get the 287 market days without a 10% pull back, out of the way. Assuming we are in a long-term bull cycle, this is well within historical averages.

2 – The US stock market hasn’t seen bear claws since 2008, but came pretty close with a 15% correction (Q2 2015 – Q1 2016). During the same period, global stock market did face the bear with many developed economies’ losses of well over 30%.

3 – If we expand the above-mentioned period to Q1 2014 – Q1 2016, we’ll see a stock market that was flat for two years (consolidation). Such periods can and do act like a bear market, especially when they last for two years.

On the topic of economic expansion, the key thing to remember is that in spite of its duration, the growth level is still well below past recoveries, and current indicators do not waive the checkered flag for the stop pit.

Concern 3: Rising Interest Rates

It is true that stocks struggle during rising interest rate environments. The reasons for that are plenty but the usual suspects are: 1 – Increasing cost of money, makes it costlier to do business and invest; 2 – Some fixed income securities’ yields start to look attractive compared to risk adjusted equity returns.

That being said, current levels are low enough to give us some time before the danger zone. If you’d like me to be more specific, the 10 Year Treasury Yield is at approximately 2.5% and historical tendencies point to a 4% rate as the line in the sand in the tug of war. Based on FED actions, it may take us till the end of 2018 or into 2019 to reach that point. Since I try not to make predictions that far in advance, knowing what I know now is good enough to conclude that the current rising rate environment may not hinder equity returns.

Concern 4: Political Uncertainty

Markets have welcomed Trump’s presidential victory as they saw four arrows in his quiver:

1 – Tax cuts

2 – Lower regulations

3 – Fiscal expansion

4 – Trade wars.

Except for trade wars, the rest are deemed to be business friendly and hence will boost earnings. Well, this is a typical case of confirmation bias at least from the earnings point of view. As of 3/31/17, S&P 500 Operating Earnings Per Share has gone up 22.1% (Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices).

In other words, the earnings environment is the best in years and this is due to the pre-Trump economic environment, finally acknowledged by Republican leaning market participants, who for years have advocated a recession. (Sorry to sound speculative and like a sour cherry here.)

I welcome this development as it not only reflects domestic facts more accurately, but also global positive economic surprises.

For those curious minds, the biggest jump came in materials and technology sectors, 36% and 32% respectively, while the biggest loser was real estate by -32%.

In other words, given that a simpler tax code is better for business and the economy, smart deregulation can translate in to a more robust business environment and fiscal expansion is past due because of the FED’s inability to stimulate, setting politics aside, current stock levels may be justified.

Summary

For those readers who look for the blue or the red pill type of conclusion from all this, here is your takeaway:

Yes, the market seems moderately stretched

Therefore, a correction may be around the corner

“Sell in May, Go Away” strategy may prove prudent this year as we approach seasonally weak summer months

Thanks for reading my commentary and as always, you can reach me at bbakan@shieldwm.com for questions and comments.

Disclosure

The strategies discussed are strictly for illustrative and educational purposes and should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. There is no guarantee that any strategies discussed will be effective. The information provided is not intended to be a complete analysis of every material fact respecting any strategy. The examples presented do not take into consideration commissions, tax implications, or other transactions costs, which may significantly affect the economic consequences of a given strategy.

The information provided is not intended to be a tax advice. Investors should be urged to consult their tax professional or financial advisers for more information regarding their specific tax situations.

“It is easier to find man who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.” Julius Caesar

If you think the stock market was down 5% since November, then up 8%, then down 2%…and it’s been on a trade mill during which time the end result performance has been flat for the last 8 months – you’d be correct (you’d get a very similar result with Dow Jones). In more detail:

On November 26th 2014, S&P 500 closed at 2072.83. Lowest we’ve seen this large cap US equity index that we call “market” hit since then, was on December 16th at 1972.74. The highest point was on May 21st 2015 at 2130.82. The drop from November to December was 4.8%, and the increase from December to May was 8%. On Friday June 12th, this index closed at 2,094.11, 1% above November 26th high!

Well, then bonds must have done relatively well, right? No…20 year treasury (Symbol TLT) index is down 2.9% in the same period (Nov 26 – June 12) and in fact down 6.3% year to date…

How about commodities (Symbol DBC)? Down 17.8% since Nov 26th and down 4.7% year to date.

US small cap equity index (Symbol IJR) is up 5.6% since Nov 26th and up 4.9% year to date.

Lastly, a safer bet in stocks, utilities is down 6.9% (Symbol IDU) since November.

Emerging markets (EEM) is down 4.98% since November 26th and developed internationals (EFA) is up 2.6% (Please note that I look at investable ETFs instead of an index as they are better indicators of money flow.)

So what does this picture tell us about the present and the future of capital markets? Short answer: it’s a mixed message. Volatile and yet flat, not knowing which direction to take. Let’s dive deeper.

The U.S. Economy

The good and bad news about the US economy is that it’s growing at a moderate paste, or one can call it a “sluggish growth”. This is good because we are far from recessionary pressures as some fear mongers would like to argue, bad news because it is below the historical averages and expectations.

Every period has phrases that become short term clichés and sometimes for good reasons. Last quarter’s cliché reward goes to “Extreme Weather Conditions and Port Disruptions”, which was seen as the main root of the negative real annualized GDP growth of 0.7% during the first quarter. (Notice how I used negative growth as opposed to contraction…it should say something about our addiction with growth). Market reaction to this news was a “meh”…for two reasons 1 – The cliché accurately described the main reasons behind the contraction and both conditions dissipated, which signaled an expected stronger second quarter as a result. 2 – By some measures, there was no contraction. For instance if you look at Gross Domestic Income (GDI), which in theory should be the same with Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as one’s spending is another person’s income. GDI grew 3.6% year over year versus 2.7% growth in year over year increase in GDP. The difference arises due to different data sources and these two figures converge in the long run. The gap suggests that GDP is not accurately capturing all the output in the economy and understating growth (Source: Ned Davis Research).

So first quarter contraction should largely be ignored and deservedly it was. The economy did slow down because of a shrinking shale gas industry, stronger dollar and the cliché mentioned above but there is a big question mark on contraction.

Second quarter and second half of this year is expected to bring stronger economic growth. I base this conclusion on forward looking indicators such as Purchasing Managers Index and most current data on revised retail sales to the upside, exceptional strength in auto sales, strong employment trends and rising incomes.

Stocks, Bonds and Commodities

The mixed message from the main asset classes is probably the following: the longer term uptrend in stocks is likely to continue. Shallow declines should be seen as buying opportunities. Long term bull markets in bonds and commodities are likely to be over.

When the stock market goes sideways for 3-4 months let alone 8, unless a catalyst for a deep correction is on its way, it usually builds up for the next up trend. Why? Because this period frustrates the investor, bullish sentiment quickly fades, patience is replaced by pessimism and negative sentiment is bullish for stocks (just like extreme optimism is bearish). Negative sentiment is bearish because it signals a built up of potential buyers if and when the tide turns.

Along with an improving US economy, negative investor sentiment is likely to turn into a tailwind for the stock market during the second half of the year.

Those who have been waiting for a correction may not be aware but one form of a correction is a long side-way trend. Is 8 months long enough? We shall see.

Summary

A few take-aways from the market action during the first half of the year are:

Long term bull market in bonds and commodities might be over.

Second quarter US economy and second half stock market may perform better than the prior period.

Small cap out performance gives hope for a sustained uptrend.

Utilities under performance confirms the possibility of an uptrend. Why? Because as the market matures, the defensive sectors outperform growth oriented sectors (a rotation towards lower beta). Defensive sectors’ under performance keeps the bulls in the game.

International opportunities may out shine US investments, but for only those with patience and longer time horizon, as the timing of this switch is impossible to guess.

The contrary view to the market building for the next uptrend argues that the valuations based on price/earnings ratios are stretched, margin debt (to borrow and invest) is at extreme highs, we are coming close to the end of the business cycle, cash ratios are at extreme lows (everybody who is to be invested already is) and we haven’t had a meaningful correction (over 15%) since 2011.

In my next newsletter, I will expand on these bearish opinions because they are noteworthy. For now, the bull is still running, a little confused and tired may be, and so taking it’s needed rest, but until proven otherwise, a benefit of the doubt should be granted.

How to counter the bears and what to say about FED’s next move? That’s for the next commentary.

Disclosure

The strategies discussed are strictly for illustrative and educational purposes and should not be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell, or an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security. There is no guarantee that any strategies discussed will be effective. The information provided is not intended to be a complete analysis of every material fact respecting any strategy. The examples presented do not take into consideration commissions, tax implications, or other transactions costs, which may significantly affect the economic consequences of a given strategy.

The information provided is not intended to be a tax advice. Investors should be urged to consult their tax professional or financial advisers for more information regarding their specific tax situations.